The Dimensional Nexus Book 1: Discovery
by Deviox
Summary: After Madoka's wish, Homura finds herself in a world without her magic. Now living in Uminari, she'll find herself pulled into a new magical conflict, one where she can only watch the events unfold in front of her as her one friend's cousin fights to seal the Jewel Seeds.
1. Prelude

The Dimensional Nexus.

Book 1: The Discovery

Chapter 1: Prelude

Homura inspected her new lodgings. She was recently moved from Mitakihara to Uminari City. Under the assumption that the doctors in Uminari were far more skilled than the ones in Mitakihara, despite its more advanced facilities. She resisted being forced to move, but her plea fell on deaf ears, citing that getting treated was more important.

The girl's eyes fell to her hand on instinct, a fresh reminder of the changes her old friend made to the world she now lived in. A world where despite remembering her time trying to save her, she didn't have access to any magic anymore. A sigh escaped her lips as she familiarized herself with her new home, cardboard boxes still packed, littering the apartment.

Her father will continue to remain distant at best, deciding to spend more time with his business than with his daughter. While to most girls, including herself 'long' ago, it would be incredibly depressing, it would give the old time traveler a good degree of freedom with her personal projects. Namely tracking down the local Puella Magi.

Of course, unlike in Mitakihara where she simply needed to keep a distant eye on Mami, she had no clue where to start her hunt in Uminari. Despite this, she walked up to her personal carry-on bag, opening a secret compartment, revealing a pistol, 3 extra clips, and one of her pipe bombs. The gun was difficult to get without any of her magic, but not impossible. Her pipe bomb also lacked the amount of kick she wanted, but getting more explosive materials would draw unwanted attention.

In short, she was far less prepared for combat than she would like to be. Homura did, however, know there was little she could do about it right now. As she closed the hidden compartment, she moved onto inspecting bag itself, finding her standard assortment of school supplies, along with a single small orange cylinder. Her heart medication.

In short, it would appear that in this timeline, one of the doctors working on her heart surgery made a mistake that, while not deadly, would cause her heart to slowly return to its pre-surgery state. Hence the move from Mitakihara to Uminari. She even had a meeting with her new doctor tomorrow. That personal reminder told her to save the hunt for another time, and perhaps visit Tatsuya's, and in turn her old friend's, cousin, the Takamachi family.

"Takamachi Bakery…" Homura mutters as she stares at the entrance. She was here. A bell rung as she entered the store, drawing the attention of the store clerks. A young lady with a braided ponytail greeted the new arrival.

"Welcome to the Takamachi Bakery!" The clerk says. "Are you ordering or picking up?"

"I'm actually looking for Momoko Takamachi," Homura says. The clerk nods.

"Oh? One moment then!" She says, leaving the counter and heading to the back. Homura hears a conversation of some sort in the back, but can't make it out too well. Soon, a much older woman with long, golden-brown hair comes out of the back.

"I'm Momoko Takamachi, how can I help you?" She asks.

"Hello, I'm Homura Akemi. I know your sister, Junko Kaname." Homura states, allowing the woman to think for a few moments.

"Oh! You babysat Tatsuya!" She soon says in realization. "I heard you really kicked it off with him." She says with a giggle. "Miyuki, mind you help you father in the back?" She requests, to which the younger clerk nods, scurrying off to the back of the store. "I heard you were moving into the area, but I didn't expect to see you so soon! Shouldn't you be unpacking?"

"Well, I can't strain myself too hard today." Homura states, the woman leaning over the counter. "I've got to see my new doctor tomorrow."

"Oh yea, I forgot you have a heart condition…" Momoko says, sounding a bit depressed. "They never exactly found out what it is exactly, right?"

"Correct. They've done several procedures, but haven't managed to solve the problem yet." Homura states. There have been several attempts at diagnosing what was wrong, but all attempts to actually solve it was met with failure.

"Mmm, that has to suck. Doesn't everything take a toll on your family?" Homura's eye suddenly twitched at the mention of her family.

"My father is… distant at best and my mother… passed away in an accident." Homura states, remembering what she was told. Her train of thought suddenly thinking about what she knew about her mother's passing.

 _Homura's mother was driving a car. "Homura, I've got something to tell you." She says, her voice sounding sad and distant._

" _Huh?" A young Homura squeaks out. "Uh, what is it?"_

" _I… Might be going away soon." The mother says, turning the car._

" _Am… Am I going to be staying with the father?" The twin tailed girl asks._

" _Knowing your father… probably not... You'll probably be by yourself for a while."_

" _Eh!?" Homura says in shock. "How long will you be gone?" There was a long pause before an answer came._

"… _A long time." The mother stated, the care stopping at a red light._

" _You don't know?" Homura asks innocently, the light turning green._

" _No, I don't." The mother says. "You'll understand what I'm talking about when you're older. And when you are, please forgive me for being a terrible mother."_

" _Mother, what are you-" Homura says, suddenly cut off, hearing a loud horn, as a huge truck I seen on a collision course!_

"Homura, you there?" Momoko said, waving her hand in front of the student's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I got lost in thought." She says in slight embarrassment.

"No, no, I'm sorry for making you remember what happened." The older woman says. They accepted each other's apologies, and moved on, eventually talking about all sorts of things. Eventually, Homura said goodbye to the mother, but not before getting invited to join her family for dinner tonight, to which Homura agreed to.

Finding the local Puella Magi could wait, after all, it's not like she had to secure a supply of Grief Seeds, or as they're now called Grief Cubes, anymore. Regardless, she made her way home by herself, at least until she heard a plea for help. And not a verbal plea for help, but rather a telepathic plea.

Homura's eyes narrowed, and her hands tensed as she glared in the direction she heard the cry, eventually heading off in the fastest sprint she could muster from her still sickly body. She looked around where she thought she heard the cry, soon seeing a little ferret collapsed near the sidewalk.

"I heard it over here!" Another voice called out, as a young girl, probably no older than nine or ten with Golden-Brown hair in high raised pigtails turned around the corner, running. "Did you call for help?" She asks Homura.

"No," Homura stated. "I guess you heard someone calling for help too?" She asks, picking up the ferret.

"Yea! I thought it came from around here, though!" The young girl asks.

"I only found this ferret when I got here," Homura states, showing said creature to the young girl, who went over to inspect it.

"It looks like it's hurt!" She says in slight shock.

"Nanoha! Why did you run off?" Another voice said as two more girls ran up for behind the brown haired girl. Both appeared to be as old as old as their friend and both had long hair, one with yellow hair, the other with purple hair.

"Hey, that ferret looks hurt!" The one with purple hair says.

Homura was holding onto her bag as she looked down at the ferret. She had managed to go home and get her bag as the other girls she met, Nanoha, Arisa, and Suzuka, took the ferret to the vet.

"So, his wounds aren't all that deep." The vet said, putting some of her tools away. "It appears to mostly just be exhaustion that caused him to collapse. I would like top to keep him here for a few days just to be safe, though." All the girls nodded and agreed in understanding.

A few moments pass, as the ferret then begins to come around. "Oh, it's waking up!" Nanoha says in surprise, the younger girls looking on eagerly, while Homura looked with a much more critical eye.

The ferret slowly pulled his head up, taking an exhausted glance around. It took a brief glance at Arisa and Suzuka before giving longer stares at Nanoha and Homura, eventually licking a finger Nanoha was holding out.

"I think he likes me," Nanoha said, causing her close friends to giggle. Shortly after, the ferret curled back up and went to sleep. While what just happened didn't say much to Nanoha, Arisa, and Suzuka, it told a lot to Homura.

First off, it confirmed what Homura was already suspecting. That ferret had some connection to magic. It focuses on herself and Nanoha, who she confirmed heard the cry for help, proved that. Second, it would seem to be looking for someone to contract, likely wanting to use Nanoha and her innocence to that end.

And finally, that if she felt the need to, she could easily eliminate the ferret should it try to Contract Nanoha. Of course, what was assuming that it was an Incubator. Something Homura was suspecting wasn't the case. After all, appearing as a run of the mill Ferret is hardly something a creature that should be invisible to, at the very least, the vet they took him to would do.

It would appear that she now has far more questions than she has the answer to.


	2. Lyrical Magical

Chapter 2: Lyrical Magical

Nanoha was sitting on her bed, texting her friends. Apparently, the girl they met while saving that little ferret was the friend of her Aunt, regularly babysitting her baby cousin. She had just moved into the area, so her mother decided to invite her over for dinner. Her impression on the older girl, Homura, was… confusing, to say the least.

Homura seemed both lonely, and not lonely at all, at the same time. Just thinking about that was confusing. It didn't help that she didn't say much at dinner, even when a question was directed to her. She just answered with the bare minimum.

 _An enigma for a babysitter?_ Nanoha read from her phone. It was from Arisa.

 _Please, don't joke like that._ Nanoha typed into her phone, a sweat drop practically visible

 _It's almost as if you have an assassin looking over you!_ The phone read out, this time from Suzuka.

 _NOT YOU TOO!_ Nanoha practically shouted as she typed into her phone. Her friends were so cruel.

 _Oh yea, what about the ferret? Will you be able to take care of it?_ Suzuka asked over the phone.

 _I asked my parents. I'll be able to take care of him!_ Nanoha said, seeing her phone beep. Her battery was starting to run out. Oh, I've gotta go! See you tomorrow! Nanoha then hopped off of her bed and put her phone on it's charging dock.

As she made her way back to her bed, she suddenly felt something strange. She looked around before instinctively closing her eyes. _"Please, if you can hear me, help me!"_

Nanoha was running through the streets, heading directly towards where she thought she 'heard' the call for help. She soon found herself at the same vet that she dropped the ferret off at earlier in the day. Not too far off, she saw Homura walking towards the vet as well, carrying her school bag.

"Eh, Homura? What are you doing here?" Nanoha said, catching up to the older girl. Homura took a glance over her shoulder.

"You shouldn't have come here," Homura said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a pistol.

"Huh? Wait, you've got a gun?!" Nanoha asked in shock. A red fog was suddenly filling the area.

"What you're about to see tonight, you mustn't tell anyone." Homura simply stated, the ferret they saved earlier leaping out through a window, a big dark blob of sorts shooting out of it shortly after, tearing a hole through the building.

Homura and Nanoha simply watched as the ferret ran around for life, scampering up a tree. Right when the glob ran into the tree, Nanoha reached out, giving the ferret a safe place to land, while causing Nanoha to fall over. Meanwhile, Homura quickly leveled her pistol on target and opened fire, firing purple tracer rounds into her target, wounding the glob.

MAGIC SHOTS!? Homura thought to herself, before dismissing the discovery for later. "We need to go. Now."

"She's right." The ferret said towards Nanoha.

"Huh, it talked!?" Nanoha shouted in shock.

"Save your surprise for later. It won't be long until it gets back up." Homura demanded, pulling the younger girl onto her feet. "For now, we have to get out of here." She said, leading the way out, mentally assessing the situation.

Nanoha, however, was still processing the situation. She was running from a strange glob of sorts that got shot by Homura, who told her to run while she was carrying a strange ferret that could talk. She has to be dreaming.

"I didn't think this planet didn't have any mages!" The ferret said, looking towards Homura.

"Not in the public eye." Homura simply stated. "I'm not one anyway. Not anymore."

"Not anymore?" The ferret asked, thunder erupting above them. "Oh no…"

The strange blob suddenly crashed down to the earth, cracking the pavement under it. Homura immediately started firing into it, emptying the rest of her clip into it, stalling the blob in its spot. "You better have something to stop that thing," Homura stated, reaching into her bag, pulling a fresh clip of ammo. "I won't be able to stop it forever."

"Right." The ferret said, reaching for the red pearl hanging from its neck, turning its attention to Nanoha "Hold into this and repeat after me." He said, giving a set of lines for Nanoha to repeat. Homura, meanwhile, kept circling the blob like a wolf preparing to attack.

After several long moments, the blob seemed to be getting back up, Homura was about to gun it down again when a bright light erupted behind her. It looked like Nanoha had some incredible magic potential. A quick glance at the ferret showed that he was surprised as well. "Now, imagine a magical weapon and sturdy armor!" The ferret yessed, regaining his composure.

Nanoha closed her eyes, imaging a rod typical for a western mage, and clothes based on her school uniform. "That'll have to do!" She says, her transformation beginning, a blinding light encompassing Nanoha's body. When it finally died down, Nanoha stood, wearing a pure white school uniform with blue trims, holding a pink and golden mage staff with a red sphere and a cylinder on each side. To Homura, Nanoha looked like a futuristic mage.

The blob, however, wasn't eager to give the girls a chance to soak in what they saw, leaping high in the air, diving straight for Nanoha. Homura ran out of its way while Nanoha held up her arms and looked away.

PROTECTION. The ruby pearl in the staff said. A split second later, a light pink barrier suddenly appearing between Nanoha and the creature, stopping the creature in its tracks while knocking Nanoha to her knees. With the creature stuck, Homura took the opportunity to take a few shots at the blob again, the impact knocking the blob off of the barrier.

"We should draw it away from the house and towards the intersection," Homura said, lifting Nanoha to her feet with a grunt. She can't keep this up for much longer with her heart this way. "Do you know any Magic?" Homura then asks, stopping in the center of the intersection.

"Eh? I not really…" Nanoha said, still not knowing what to do. Homura narrowed her eyes as she stared at where the blob laid, pulling itself together once again.

"You'll have to seal it!" The ferret said, still being held by Nanoha. Homura glanced over at the ferret while Nanoha looked down. "It's a thought entity. The only way to stop it is to seal it back to its original form." The ferret explained.

"I don't get it! What should I do?" Nanoha asked the ferret.

"Basic movements like attacking and defending will happen just by willing them." The ferret explained to Nanoha, Homura also keeping a close ear on the explanation. "However, you need spells for more powerful and complex actions."

"Like sealing?" Homura asked.

"Right."

"But, how do I make a spell?" Nanoha inquired.

"Listen to your heart. It should come to you naturally." The ferret told Nanoha. The beast seemed to just stare at her having finished reforming. Homura leveled her gun towards it. It seemed to pause for a few moments, before suddenly charging.

Homura opened fire, but this time, the beast seemed to just take the shots, charging recklessly towards the two of them. In a quick move of desperation, she reached into her bag and pulled out her pipe bomb, throwing it at the creature. The resulting explosion didn't damage the creature, but it did stop its charge.

Taking advantage of this sudden opening, Nanoha's staff suddenly sprouted 3 pink wings at the base of its head. "Lyrical… Magical…" Nanoha chanted, her eyes still closed.

"What needs to be sealed is an ominous container," the ferret suddenly shouted. "A Jewel Seed!"

Nanoha's eyes opened. "Seal the Jewel Seed!" She said, magic flaring from Nanoha, grabbing Homura's attention.

"That's… a lot of power…" Homura muttered to herself, stepping away from the younger girl.

SEALING MODE. SETUP. The pearl in the staff said. Once that was said, Nanoha aimed her staff at the stunned creature, shooting and wrapping it up in glowing pink ribbons, capturing it. STANDBY. READY. The pearl said again.

"Lyrical... Magical…" Nanoha chanted, her eyes closed once again. "Jewel Seed…. Seal!" Nanoha demanded from her magic.

SEALING. The orb said, more ribbons shooting out, this time piercing the creature as the ribbons currently trapping it tightened, eventually causing the creature to explode, this time leaving behind no remains save for a crater and a single shining object inside it.

"Huh?" Nanoha said, looking at said shining object. Homura started to approach the smaller girl, tinkering with her gun. Nanoha started to follow Homura to the shining object.

"That's a Jewel Seed." The ferret explained, sounding exhausted. "Touch it with your staff." Homura bent over to inspect the jewel, finding a blue, rhombus with rounded edges.

"This is a jewel seed?" Homura asked the ferret, to which the ferret nodded. In response, Homura placed the jewel on the head of the staff, causing it to get sucked in.

RECEIPT NUMBER: 21. The staff stated, Nanoha's uniform lighting up as it dismissed itself, leaving behind a small, red orb in Nanoha's hand. The Ferret collapsed shortly afterward.

AN: My appolgies for sending this up so late. I've been trying to find a good Beta Reader, but havn't managed to find any, which inturn has also delayed my releaseing the next chapter. Anyway, this is probably going to be the weakest chapter I'm goning to write in a long time, sadly. Hopefuly I can do better in the future.


	3. Programs

**Chapter 3: Programs**

Homura stared at herself in a mirror. Staring back was a splitting image of herself, complete with bloodshot eyes. She left her contacts in far too long today, and now she was paying the price. She took a glance at her hands, still shaking as though they belonged to an old lady.

Regardless, she stuck her shaky fingers into her red eyes. After another long battle, she managed to get her contacts out and into a container. She looked down at the sink, now just a blurry mess of marble and metal. With rough execution, she managed to turn on the sink and splash some water on her face, and later wipe her face dry with a purple towel.

Homura then reached behind the mirror, storing the contacts and reaching for an old friend. Her red rimmed glasses. She rarely wore them in public anymore, opting to use her newer contacts instead. Wearing her glasses too often reminded her of a time she was weak and helpless. She refused to be like that again, even without her magic.

She needed to be strong, just like her best friend was. It would be hard, but that's never stopped her in the past. And she sure wasn't going to stop protecting her.

Homura finished her nightly routine, suddenly stopping when she heard something move outside of the bathroom. "So, you're up?" She Called out, stepping out to look at the ferret she picked up earlier. It Appeared to have discarded it's bandages. "I guess you've healed yourself up."

The ferret looked up at Homura in slight surprise. "Ah, yes. I've been able to focus my magic on healing myself." He said.

"Naturally." The girl stated. "I suppose introductions are in order. I am Homura Akemi. The girl you gave magic to earlier was Nanoha Takamichi." The ferret nodded.

"I'm Yuuno Scrya. Scrya is my clan name, so just call me Yuuno." The ferret said. Homura nodded in acceptance. She took a quick glance at the clock, noting that it was getting rather late.

"I'm have a few questions I'd like to ask you, and I imagine you have some yourself." Homura said. "However, with it being as late as it is, I would prefer to keep it simple." Homura said.

"I imagined you would." Yuuno said, sounding a bit depressed. Hardly the first expression Homura expected from the ferret. She imagined he'd be happy to pass magic onto someone.

"I'll ask one question. Did you put Nanoha in any danger of dying." The ferret's eyes shot open in shock.

"NO!" He refuted. "I'd never put someone in danger like that!" He said. The sickly girl nodded in light approval of such an answer. "Where is she, uh…" The ferret asked, as if he was looking for someone.

"Nanoha. And she's not here. You're at my apartment right now." Homura told the ferret.

"Ah. Well, I'd like to apologize to Nanoha. For dragging her into fixing my mistake." Yuuno said.

"I see." She said. "We'll talk more about that tomorrow." Homura then excused herself to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.

* * *

She Awoke the following morning, grasping her chest in pain as she reached for her pills and water. Two pills and a large gulp of water later, Homura found herself gasping for air. It would seem that last night's antics left her heart in more pain than she liked. It looked like she wasn't going to be able to be as active as she would like.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice said.

"I'm fine, Yuuno." Homura replied, her breath steadying.

"Are you sure?" The Ferret said, looking up at Homura from the bedside stand.

"Yes." Homura then said, standing up from her bed to begin making breakfast. "Do you eat normal ferret food, or can you eat a normal breakfast?" She then asks as she rummaged around the kitchen.

"I'll just take some leftovers." The ferret answered.

"Very well." Homura said as she turned on the stove. Several long, quiet minutes passed as Homura cooked.

"Say, where are your parents?" Yuuno eventual asked, breaking the silence.

"I live by myself." Homura answered.

"Huh? Why are you living by yourself?" Yuuno asks in surprise.

"Because my father can't be pulled from his work in Germany."

"And your mother?"

Homura didn't answer as she placed down two plates, a smaller one for Yuuno and a larger one for Homura. "Eat." Homura simply said. On Yuuno's plate was a small sausage, while on Homura's plate was a few scrambled eggs.

"How does your Magic work?" Homura asked in between bites, surprising Yuuno out of his meal.

"Huh? Oh." Yuuno said, looking at his sausage as tried to think about how to explain it. "Well, to put it simply, a mage uses his or her Linker Core to provide Mana to use Programs for using Spells." He said.

"I assume that you know the details." Homura then asked. Yuuno sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

"I see." Homura said, a purple light dancing around her hand. This was her magic, dancing around her own hand. She had long since accepted that she'd never cast any magic ever again, and yet here she was.

"Are you sure you're not a mage?" Yuuno asked.

"I had come to the conclusion that I was no longer a… mage after a series of events."

"I see. What happened?"

"I… lost what would be the equivalent of a device." Homura answered, looking at the finger that her soul gem once rested on.

"I guess you didn't call yourself Mages?" The ferret asked. The human shook her head.

"No, we referred to ourself as either Magical Girls, or the more proper term, Puella Magi." Homura said, deciding it was time to release a bit of information. It didn't appear that his method was as dangerous as she was worried about.

"Puella Magi, I've heard that name before…" Yuuno muttered to himself, much to the surprise of Homura.

* * *

Nanoha was running to where she first met Homura and that furret. She was running late too! "I'm here!" She said, gasping for air. Homura was standing as stoically, taking a glance behind herself. "Hey, what's in the-? Oh, is that the ferret?" She asked.

"Correct, His name is Yunno." Homura said, handing the pink pet box to Nanoha. "He would be best in your care. You did get permission from your parents, correct?"

"Eh? Uh, yes, I did, but you took care of him yesterday, correct?"

"Correct, however he would be able to teach you how to use your new Magic." Nanoha blinked at that, remembering her necklace.

"So, that DID happen last night, didn't it?" Nanoha asks, pulling out the ruby colored orb from under her shirt.

"Indeed."' Homura said with a nod. Nanoha slowly took the case for Yunno, looking at him carefully. "You've decided to take on a big responsibility." She said, causing Nanoha to look back up at the older girl.

"Do you… Do you think I can do it?" She then asked.

"Depends. I managed to talk to Yunno to some length about the situation."

"Right. I should probably go into greater detail now." Yunno said, deciding to final say something.

"He can talk!?" Nanoha asked, To which Homura nodded.

"He can. Do you have any obligations right now?" Homura inquired.

"Obli-What now?" The shorter girl inquired, tilting her head abit.

"Classes or something you must do." Homura explained.

"Oh! I have cram classes!" Nanoha said, suddenly realizing that she has to hurry. Homura nodded.

"Very well." Homura said, reaching into her pocket, pulling out a note she had prepared "This is my current address and my phone number. Call me when class is over tomorrow and we can begin talking strategy." She said.

"Huh? But why not after class is over Today?" Nanoha asked.

"So Yunno can teach you some basics.

 _You're not going to tell her that you're going to see the doctor today?_ Yunno telepathically asked Homura.

 _Nanoha needs someone she can look to for guidance right now. Showing such a simple sign of weakness right now would likely cause her to worry unnecessarily._ Homura replied, looking down at the furret for a reaction.

Yunno was clearly not convinced, but decided to let it slide anyway.

"Will you teach me aswell, Homura?" Nanoha then asked, drawing the other two of them out of their conversation.

"To an extent. Yunno will teach you how to cast your magic. I will teach you on how to use your magic." Homura answered.

"Uh, o...k." Nanoha said, not entirely understanding what Homura ment.

"You'll understand what I mean tomorrow." Homura then explained, reading Nanoha like a book.

"So, how about I start off with Programs." Yunno said, grabbing Nanoha's attention.

"Oh, okay! See you tomorrow…" Nanoha said, looking up at Homura, who was no longer there. "...Homura?" She asked, looking around. "Where did she go?"


	4. Mitakihara

**Chapter 4: Mitakihara**

Homura was looking at a map of Uminari city and its surroundings. She only had a handful of ideas regarding possible ideas, but given how Uminari was a port city, she could only guess that more than a few Jewel Seeds landed in the ocean. Worse still was the fact that as far as she was currently aware, they had no method to acquire those seeds.

Adding to Homura's worries was that she didn't know if there is a Puella Magi situated in Uminari yet. And if so what sort of negotiation tactics she would have to have to employ. Would they help out of a sense of duty, or would they fight tooth and nail for a powerful advantage over their peers.

And that didn't even count her innate worry that the seeds are likely being hunted by another mage. Yunno's story about his space ship being attacked only made her worry that the attackers likely want what was inside. Which were the Jewel Seeds that Nanoha will be hunting.

Homura was about to let put a small sigh of defeat until she heard her apartment buzzer ring. After a brief conformation, she let Nanoha in. "I see you got here safely." She said. "Would you like some tea?" She asked as she started to make her way into the kitchen.

"Uh, sure. Green tea please!" Nanoha said, full of energy. Homura would give a nod of confirmation before heading into the kitchen. Nanoha would sigh abit. "Her eyes, they look so… broken." Nanoha would comment abit.

"Broken?" Yuuno would ask from his basket, causing Nanoha to glance down at it.

"Yea. I don't know how to explain it…" Nanoha said, bringing the basket to a table and releasing the ferret inside. "But she looks like she's lost her purpose in life."

Yunno crawled out of the basket and stretched a bit. "Huh, interesting." He said. "She did say she used to be a mage of sorts. Perhaps something happened there."

"She did, didn't she?" Nanoha said in thought.

"The tea is ready." Homura said, interrupting Nanoha's train of thought.

"Oh, thank you Homura!" Nanoha said eagerly, taking her cup and sipping it.

"Let's get down to business." Homura then said, taking a seat. "Yunno, do you have any ideas on where we might be able to find any of the Jewel Seeds."

You're all business, aren't you Homura? Nanoha thought to herself.

"Uh, not really. We had yet to study them in-depth." The ferret said. "Though initial studies did show that some of them might be attracted to magical hotspots."

"Magical hotspots?" Nanoha asked with a light tilt of her head.

"Yea, places with higher magical density then the area around." He explained.

"That likely means that not all of the seeds landed here in Uminari." Homura then said in thought.

"What do you mean Homura?" Yunno inquired. "As far as I can tell, there isn't really anything of note on this planet, magically speaking."

"Then you would be wrong. The next city over is a place of…" Homura paused for a moment, "pilgrimage for many of this planet's hidden... mages."

"The next city over?" Nanoha said, thinking briefly. "You mean Mitakihara?"

"Correct."

"Why is that?" Yunno asked.

"Because of the nature of their magic, they feel an unknown pull towards the city." Homura explained.

Yunno had a hunch that Homura knew more then she was saying, but opted to let it slide once again. She was the only source of info regarding this planet's magical underworld and was willing to hold his breath for the sake of sealing the Jewel seeds.

"It would be far too dangerous for Nanoha to head there without some experience with her magic under her belt, so I suggest we save looking there for later." Homura then said.

"You're a mage too, right? Couldn't you go looking there?" Nanoha asked.

"Was a mage. My… device has long since been… destroyed." Homura clarified.

"Can you use Raging Heart?"

'Negative, master.' Nanoha's necklace chimed in. 'Subject has low compatibility.'

"Not only that," Yunno butted in, "but it would require a hard reset of Raging Heart, which requires equipment that we don't have here."

"Oh…" Nanoha said, deflating a little bit.

"You made the decision to do this, so you will have to see this through." Homura said. There was a few moments of silence before Yunno spoke up.

"What makes Mitakihara so dangerous?"

"What makes every Puella Magi dangerous. Territory." Homura replied.

"Puella Magi?" Nanoha asks.

"The mages I was talking about." Homura answered, Yunno slowly starting to price things together.

"So, Puella Magi need to hold onto territory. For what reason?"

"We will… discuss that at a later time. Just know that securing hunting grounds is paramount for a Puella."

"Hunting grounds?"

"Correct. Hunting grounds. Puella Magi hunt what are called Wraiths. They are supposedly born from negative human emotion." Homura answered, leaving Yunno befuddled abit.

"Supposedly? You doubt that?." He asked.

"I do." Homura said very briefly.

"Care to explain why?" He said, finally trying to pry into something.

"It would take far too long for what this meeting is about." She replied.

"Uh, I'm a bit lost here…" Nanoha said. "You're saying that those Puella Magi will fight each other for territory to hunt in?"

"Correct, not unlike wolfs." Homura replied.

"Thats… That's so sad…" Nanoha said, thinking she was starting to understand Homura's pain. A few more moments of silence passed before Homura resumed

"Regardless, let's return to the matter at hand. I've yet to determine if Uminari has a resident Puella or not. If it dose, she could be lying low key for a variety of reasons, and will more than likely stay out of our way for the time being."

"Jewel Seed activation detected!' Raging Heart suddenly said, grinding all discussion to a halt.

"You go and deal with it." Homura said, looking at Nanoha.

"Huh? You're not coming?" Nanoha asks.

"No, you'll be doing this by yourself." Homura replied.

"Come on Nanoha, let's go!" Yunno said, climbing up his companion.

"Right, let's go!" Nanoha said, hurrying to the door. "Take care Homura!" She said, leaving and rushing to the Jewel Seed.

Several long moments passed until Homura sat in a chair, looking up, a small smile forming on her normal stoic. "Your cousin is so much like you, you know."

Homura made her way to her computer. She had a lot of research to do if she wanted to try to pinpoint some of the magical hotspots in the city.


End file.
